The Giants don’t know exactly what they have in Devon Kennard, but they know the rookie gives the team options.

A versatile defender, Kennard lined up all over the field at USC, playing as a defensive end, a strong-side linebacker, a middle linebacker and an outside linebacker.

With Jon Beason on the physically unable to perform list and Jameel McClain returning from a minor foot injury, Kennard took the majority of first-team snaps at middle linebacker during Wednesday’s practice, taking on the toughest of all the tasks he may be asked to perform, one which linebackers coach Jim Herrmann had no reservations inserting him into on his second day of training camp.

“He’s not going to shy away from the game. He’s calm, cool, and collected,” Herrmann said. “It’s the speed of the game, and we’ll see how he plays. Based on what we do out here, I don’t think he’s going to have a problem.”

Though Kennard hasn’t consistently played middle linebacker since his sophomore season at USC in 2010, the 23-year-old said being moved around so often has enabled him to adjust to changes quickly.

“I think they’re definitely happy with how fast I pick things up, but it’s a long ways,” Kennard said. “I still have a lot of things to correct and I’m taking steps every day to improve what I need to do and playing at the level they expect of me and I expect of myself.

“As a linebacker, you have to understand the defense as a whole. That’s what I’m starting to do. I’m starting to understand how the pieces fit together to where it’s easy to kind of go back and forth like this, one day to another. It’s just picking it up and understanding what the coaches want.”

Herrmann believes Kennard, selected in the fifth round, may have fallen that far because of his lack of a specialized role.

“I liked him on film, obviously our college scouting liked him on film,” Herrmann said. “He played at USC and he played under four different coordinators, and played four different positions, so I think he kind of got lost in the college shuffle a little bit there.”

Herrmann constantly referred to Kennard as a “thick” player, noting the strength of the 6-foot-3, 250-pound linebacker, but as enamored as the staff is with his physical tools, Kennard’s ability to adjust to changing perspectives may be his most valuable asset.

“The flexibility is great. You can’t have guys that can only play in one tiny role,” Herrmann said. “You can’t do that in the NFL. You have to play multiple positions.”